by Malone, Nana
“Oh, God. I—Theo…”
Theo’s fingers stopped penetrating my core. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“Theo. Please. I—”
He removed his fingers from my heated skin and rolled his big body over mine, bracing himself over me. His erection nudged my cleft, and he swore. “You’re so beautiful, Zia.”
I rotated my hips, sliding my cleft along the length of him. “Theo, please don’t make me wait. I need you.”
Theo dropped his forehead to mine and kissed me softly. “All you have to do is enjoy and know that I love you with everything that I am. You are in charge here okay. Anything you need, I’ll provide for you.”
I chewed my bottom lip. He was too close. Could make me feel too much. He left me feeling open and vulnerable. He also left me feeling like I’d grabbed hold of a live wire. Like I could fly. Like I was beautiful. Like I was special. Worthy.
I dragged in a breath and exhaled. “I’m yours.”
He kissed me softly, re-settled back between my thighs. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear that… that you’re mine?” His tongue licked at my bottom lip before he nipped. “I’m yours too. I’m not leaving the islands. I’m not letting you go.”
His erection slid against my slit before fully sliding into me, and we both gasped. I met his gaze; his eyes pierced my soul. In that moment, I knew I would never be the same.
I met Theo thrust for thrust. He kept his eyes on mine, never breaking the intimate connection as my orgasm coursed through me. I bucked as the pleasure rolled through my body. Theo wrapped his arms around me and held on tight as his body shook.
22
Zia…
"Are you sure this isn't too much?"
Theo shook his head and took my hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss my fingertips. "Nope. Besides, I'm used to dealing with her."
In the backseat, Derrick groaned. "I can't believe I'm being dragged along on this field trip."
Trace just smacked his arm. "Shut up."
Theo had volunteered to go with me. But according to the king, if I wanted to take this action, I was going with a full entourage. Lord knew, Deedee would be tickled pink. Although, if she really did need me, she wouldn't be too thrilled that I was bringing some friends along.
The second-floor apartment door was painted a cheery red. It was in the part of town where the university was located, and the neighborhood was bright and teeming with people. I’d called ahead, but couldn't get through so, I just knocked on her door unannounced.
A pretty brunette opened up and her jaw dropped when she saw Theo, and then Derrick, and then Trace behind him.
"Oh my God, Deedee, there are hot men at the door."
Derrick grinned, Theo seemed unfazed, and Trace just laughed.
When Deedee came to the door, she stopped short. "Oh, so you remember where I live now?" Her gaze stuttered when she realized I had Derrick and Theo with me. “Jesus, there are two of you? Tell me one of you is at least fun.”
"Don't be like that Deedee. I wanted to check on you and make sure you're okay."
Her roommate gave us all a wide smile. "Hi. I'm Katy. Which one of you is single?"
Derrick and Trace stepped forward, but Trace shook his head. "You're barely older than my sister. I can't date you."
Katy thrust her chest out. "I'm nearly twenty. Besides, who said anything about dating?"
He just groaned and shoved his hands in his pockets.
I pulled Deedee aside. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"
She rolled her eyes, still clearly pissed at me for not giving her what she wanted last time we’d talked. "Yeah, sure. Fine."
I followed her into her room. "Listen, I just wanted to check on you."
"Really? Why, when you left me high and dry before?"
I shook my head. "You know full well I couldn't just drop everything and give you what you wanted. You haven't even given it a chance. I see it's working out okay."
She shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, she's fine, I guess."
"Deedee look, you know I want to give you what you want, anything you ask for, but I recognize now that behavior doesn’t lend itself to being a good parent. Mom and Dad would never have given you everything you wanted. It has made you spoiled."
"I am not spoiled."
I slid her a knowing glance. "Oh really?"
"It's not like that."
"Then what's it like? You have only given this roommate arrangement a couple of weeks and you're ready to cut tail and run to me, expecting me to fix it and make it better. Honestly, I don't always have it in me."
She frowned as she studied me. "What? Arlington isn't keeping you in jewels and sunshine?"
I coughed a laugh. "Not exactly. It's a long story. But look, I'm happy, and I want you to be happy. And for once, I want to get a text from you that's just like, 'Hey, I'm having a great time in classes.' Or for me to text you and be like, 'Hey, where are you?' Kind of like I am today."
She nodded. "Look, I overreacted the other day when I came to the palace. I'm sorry."
My brows popped in surprise. "What?"
"I do know how to apologize. I just don't always do it like I should. And I'm sorry about that. I'm just losing my shit and falling into old habits."
"It's okay. I get it."
"No, I don't think you do. You had Mom and Dad mostly around. By the time I got older, I only had you. And then you were trying to make up for Mom and Dad not being there, so you gave me everything I ever wanted that was in your power to provide, and I appreciate it so much. But there's a part of me that thinks that I'd be a better person if I didn't always have that."
"What? I'm supposed to let you fend for yourself?" I asked with real surprise.
She nodded her head. "Maybe a little. Again, I'm grateful, but it's like you said at the palace the other day; I really do need to fend for myself sometimes."
"So that's what you've been doing?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I’m trying out surviving on my own, and I kinda like it."
"Well, I’m glad. And listen, this is just going to be a quick visit. There's a lot going on."
Deedee inclined her head toward the door. "Would that explain why there are two Derricks at my front door?"
"There's this whole twin thing."
She laughed. "Leave it to you to fall in love with twins."
I blinked at her. "In love with twins? No. No, no, no, no. I'm in love with Theo. I don't know anything about Derrick, or being in love with him, or anything like that."
She laughed again. "Wait, so he has a twin. It's trippy I didn't know that."
"It's a well-guarded secret for now. Listen, if you do need anything, for real, just call me. And if not, just call and say hi, and let’s hang out."
Deedee reached out and hugged me tightly. And when I was in my sister's arms, I could feel my eyes pricking again. But Deedee didn't need to get all into my dramatics. Besides, she would only worry. "I love you. I'll see you later, okay?"
She watched me. "Something's up with you."
I shook my head. "No. Life is just good. Just busy, you know?"
She nodded. "As long as you know the sisterly thing is not one-sided, okay?”
“Yeah, I hear you. Thank you though. So, are you sure you’re okay? There’s nothing you need?"
She laughed. "There are lots of things that I want but don’t necessarily need. And for the first time, I made a budget, so the things I want, I know I can't really have right now."
I laughed. "You set a budget? Be still my heart."
She mocked me. "Like you're at the height of fashion."
"I could be. I have a good leather miniskirt in my closet somewhere."
"The whole point of owning it is that you have to wear it."
I shook my head. "I can't wear a leather miniskirt."
She laughed. "Then what's the point of having it? You’ve got to live your life to the fullest. And I intend to do exactly that."
"I'm
proud of you. I love you, Deedee."
"I love you too. Now please, get out of here and go bone your new boyfriend. Let me live vicariously."
I laughed. "Somehow I think I'm a lot more badass in your visions than in real life."
She winked. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
* * *
Theo…
A couple days later, we were in attendance at the Queen's Jubilee. By then I was getting used to some of the opulence and pampered circumstances of the royal family. It was never overdone though. It was always tasteful. But it was certainly a different world entirely than the one I'd grown up in. And God, there was a part of me that wanted to bring my mother and show her what in the world was going on.
Show her how beautiful it could be.
If you were speaking to her.
I knew I could only pull this off for a little while longer before I would have to pay the piper. When she called, I was always miraculously busy. And it wasn't fair to not tell her why. But I just couldn't make myself do it. I couldn't make myself call her. In the last week and a half or so since I’d found out the truth, I'd gotten to know my brother better.
He'd grown up completely different than I had. His first instinct wasn't toward kindness. His first instinct wasn't toward love. But there was a code of decency about him, and a part of me liked him. There was also a part of me that wanted to throttle him on a daily basis.
But he was my brother. The literal family that I’d felt was missing from my life since I was a kid, so I willed myself to get to know him. Even if he did make me want to hit things. Usually his face.
But it was more than just that. It was also Lucas, Roone, Sebastian, Jessa, Tristan, Ariel, Bryna and Penny. They were family. Actual family. Whether related by blood or not, they took care of each other. When one was in trouble, the whole damn team was in trouble. And while I was used to it just being Mom and I or Kyle and I, now I had Derrick to look after.
"So, baby brother, are you enjoying the festivities?"
I laughed. "Why do you insist on calling me ‘baby brother’?"
"Because I'm a full two minutes older than you."
"I'm pretty sure that's negligible."
"I mean, it counts. I am the firstborn."
I rolled my eyes. "That seems like a gimmick. But okay, I'll let you get away with it."
He laughed. "For what it's worth, I am glad you're here."
I slid him a glance. "You mean, even though you left me to my own devices, got yourself kidnapped, and I tried to stop your merger from going through, you're happy?"
He laughed. "Okay, maybe happy is the wrong word. But it's good. We've been apart for far too long. I mean, I didn't even know I should be looking for you until three months ago."
I nodded for him to continue.
"But the moment I did know, it was all I could think about. I wanted to know everything about you. I wanted you here."
I frowned into my drink. "Why did you have me take over your company?"
He sighed. "Honestly, I wanted to see what you were made of. I wanted to know that you'd be able to do it. I know it seems dumb. I just... I'd been on my own for so long, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. I feel the same way. But I could have really fucked up your company."
"Ah, you tried."
"No, I didn’t. I was trying to save it."
He shrugged. "That Inline deal… we can agree to disagree on that one. The point is, when I came to New York to meet you, I didn't even believe it could be true. And then I saw you, just sitting there living your life. I was kind of pissed off. Jealous even. I'd been dealing with my father's bullshit all that time, and it seemed like your life was so much better. Then, of course, I started digging and found out about our mother."
"Why didn't you try and talk to her? Meet her?"
He shook his head. "And say what? I'm that son you threw away?" He shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess. But we're going to have to sort it all out eventually."
He nodded. "Yeah. The real question is have you talked to her? Do you know what you're going to say to her?"
I shook my head. "I'm still at that point where I'm avoiding her calls."
He clacked his tongue. "You can't avoid her forever."
"I know. Just for the foreseeable future."
"Right, you let me know how that goes for you,” he chuckled.
"Yeah, I will," I replied dryly. “One more question…”
"You're full of questions right now, aren't you?"
I shrugged. "I've been afraid for some of these answers."
"Fair enough. Ask away. A little scotch can make someone an open book."
"You said you found out, what, three months ago, right?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"Then how come you used to insist everyone call you Theo?"
He frowned then. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Elena was saying when you were little, you used to run around and insist that your name was Theo."
He frowned. "I don't remember that."
"You never had friends refer to you as Theo?"
He shook his head. "No. Why would she tell you that?"
I knew I wasn't making this up. I knew I wasn't crazy.
"I don't know, but I swear that's what Elena said."
He frowned. "I had never heard the name Theo until I was maybe sixteen. I'd had a bad night, and I came home trashed. I had a fight with Dad, I think. One of those deuces. Elena and I were talking, and she was saying how my mother had always wanted to call me Theo."
I took a sip of my drink and frowned. "It was weird. When I was pretending to be you, I told her to call me Theo, and she was completely unsurprised. And she told me it was what I had wanted to be called when I was younger."
He frowned. "That's not right though."
I shrugged. "Maybe she’s not remembering things correctly anymore. She’s getting older, you know?"
He frowned. "Maybe, but she's been with my family since I was born. If there's anyone who would get it right, it would be her. I've never talked to my Dad about any family shit, which makes sense, considering he wasn't really around. She did everything. Completely, absolutely raised me."
I frowned and could feel a needling doubt in the back of my mind. "It just seems like a weird thing to mess up since she was there the most."
He frowned. "You're saying she knew right away that you weren't me?"
I nodded. "Yeah. She laughed and said it was because I cooked for her or something like that. She said that you'd never done anything like that before."
He shook his head. "I never learned how to cook. Not for lack of interest, mind you. I actually would have liked to. But doing it for me seemed to make Elena happy. Whenever she would be making me something, she’d say she would make some extra to take to her niece the following weekend."
I nodded. "Did you ever meet her niece?"
"No. You know, it's funny. She always said the girl was too busy. Elena went home most weekends unless, of course, my parents couldn't be bothered with me for a weekend and the live-in nanny was busy."
I nodded absently. "That many years, and you never once met her niece? It seems odd."
"What are you saying?"
"Well, I went to Elena's house a few days ago. Her niece was there, and I got the impression she lived with her and took care of her. Do you know if Elena has any living siblings?"
He frowned. "No, actually, I don't know."
I rolled my eyes. "You really do need to learn more about people."
"Sorry. I should make more of an effort. It just never affected me that much. I do remember asking if her niece could come and stay with us instead of Elena going there once. But she said no and told me her niece was sick and she had to go take care of her. All I knew was that her niece went to some fancy boarding school."
"A boarding school on a housekeeper's salary?"
He shrugged. "I didn't question it. I'm pretty sure Dad paid her well to deal with me so that he
never had to talk to me himself."
"Uh-huh." I wanted to let it go. I wanted to put it away, but I couldn't. "How long has Elena been with your family?"
Derrick shrugged. "I don't know. Since before I was born. Whatever Dad needed, she provided."
I wrinkled my nose at that. "I don't even want to imagine what that statement means."
Derrick shrugged. "With my father, it could mean anything. Dad wasn't the greatest of people. Can you imagine?"
"Yeah, but why would she stay?"
He sighed. "I don't know. Maybe she loved me?"
"Yeah, maybe. Or she had to… because if she'd been Timothy Arlington's side piece for years and, I don't know, maybe had a kid by him that she gave to her sister to raise for the most part… I met the niece. She looks to be in her mid-twenties. She could be our age."
Derrick frowned into his glass some more. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"What do I know? That’s all purely speculation. It's not like I know her as well as you do. But that whole 'call me Theo' thing… It sounded like it didn't faze her at all. Like she'd known and expected it, and she knew exactly who I was from the moment I set foot in your place. And my acting wasn't that bad."
Derrick laughed at that. "Everybody knew that you weren't me."
"Yeah, but only in hindsight and only because I was nice."
"See? I told you to stop being nice."
"Think about it, Derrick. Maybe Elena and our father had had this relationship that you never knew about. What if that pretty little niece was a daughter? What if that daughter is Timothy Arlington's, which means she’d be our half-sister? Fancy private boarding school? Come on, boarding school is expensive, even if you are wealthy."
He mulled it over. "The thing I don't understand is her mixing up the stories. I never went by Theo. Not once. It's not like her."
"Maybe you and I should pay her a visit."
"You know, Theo, that's not a bad idea."
He was giving me the wide-eyed, raised-brow, time-to-pull-a-runner face. "Are you insane? This is the Queen Mother's birthday. No way are we walking away from this party. Zia’s not on duty, but she'll follow us."
He shrugged. "Come on, we've already established that no one is trying to kill us right now, so let's go get some answers."